Hurricanes flip Edmundson's rights to Canadiens for 5th-rounder

The Carolina Hurricanes traded defenseman Joel Edmundson to the Montreal Canadiens for a 2020 fifth-round pick, the team announced Saturday.

Edmundson is a pending unrestricted free agent, so the Habs will need to re-sign him before Oct. 9 or else he'll hit the open market.

The 27-year-old brings an element of size (6-foot-4, 215 pounds) and physicality (his 118 hits led all Hurricanes blue-liners in 2019-20). He also registered a career-high 20 points in 68 games this past season.

This marks the second time Edmundson has been traded in less than a calendar year. Last September he was dealt by the St. Louis Blues to Carolina along with prospect Dominik Bokk in exchange for Justin Faulk.

Edmundson won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019, racking up seven points in 22 playoff games along the way.

The Hurricanes already have six defensemen signed for next season. Edmundson was one of three pending UFA rearguards along with Trevor van Riemsdyk and Sami Vatanen. They also have a pending RFA in Haydn Fleury, so Edmunson likely wasn't in Carolina's future plans.

Edmundson will join a blue line in Montreal that will likely feature Shea Weber, Jeff Petry, Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak, Victor Mete, and rookie Alexander Romanov next season.

The Canadiens have nearly $13 million in projected cap space, per CapFriendly. Even with Mete and Max Domi's projected raises, Montreal shouldn't have any issues signing Edmundson.

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